White House To Roll Out “Privacy Bill of Rights”

In a speech this week at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Internet Policy Daniel Weitzner announced that the Administration will soon roll out a “privacy bill of rights,” which he described as a “broad, high-level statement of principles” that could be enforced by the FTC. Weitzner emphasized that the Administration wanted to move quickly on privacy, even if that means doing so without legislation. “We’re not going to wait for Congress,” Weitzner said.

Although Weitzner did not describe the details of the program — which probably will be included in the Department of Commerce’s forthcoming privacy report — he explained that the program would be “voluntary” but “enforceable.” That likely means that it will follow the approach followed by other self-regulatory programs, such as the Digital Advertising Alliance’s Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising, in which participating companies voluntarily submit to an enforcement mechanism but also publicly represent that they comply with the program. This, proponents argue, could trigger the FTC’s existing authority to take action against “deceptive” trade practices when a company tells consumers that it complies but actually does not.

When the Administration announces its “bill of rights,” we expect that it will reflect an effort to update traditional notions of privacy to today’s diverse online economy, including broad principles that companies can implement in the particular contexts in which they operate. We also anticipate efforts to make theoretical privacy concepts more practical and understandable to the average consumer and to empower consumers to make decisions about their own privacy.

About the Covington Data Privacy and Cybersecurity group

Repeatedly ranked as having one of the best privacy practices in the world, Covington combines exceptional substantive expertise with an unrivaled understanding of the IT industry, and of e-commerce and digital media business models in particular. Read More